A Talent for War: An Alex Benedict Novel

Everyone knew the legend of Christopher Sim. Fighter. Leader. An interstellar hero with a rare talent for war, Sim changed mankind's history forever when he forged a ragtag group of misfits into the weapon that broke the back of the alien Ashiyyur. But now, Alex Benedict has found a startling bit of information, long buried in an ancient computer file. If it is true, then Christopher Sim was a fraud.

Very good - but the cover and title are deceptive

This is NOT a book about war, or fighting in space, or action of any kind. You should NOT judge the book by it's cover or title or you will be disappo..Show More »inted (as several reviewers were), but if you know going in that it is more of a detective story (where the detective is a librarian type) you will like it. I would actually compare it to "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" or the other George Smiley spy books - there is very little action currently happening (but past action is discovered and discussed by the protagonist). That is not a bad thing (John La Carrie sold millions of those books, and they are great), but if you are expecting the protagonist to have a "talent for war" (he doesn't) or men in spacesuits (the cover depicts a man dead for a hundred years) you will be disappointed. If you want an interesting future mystery with some science fiction (it is the future, but that future is 90% like the present) and several very interesting "twists", give this a try.

Polaris: An Alex Benedict Novel

Sixty years ago, the space yacht Polaris was found deserted, the fate of its pilot and passengers a mystery. Now, to mark the anniversary of the disappearance, there is to be an auction of what was left behind on the ship. Using his insider knowledge, Alex Benedict, one of the preeminent antiquities dealers in the galaxy, secures some of the artifacts.

Entertaining.

Kind of like a Magnum PI episode: not incredibly deep but entertaining...

Reviewed on November 24 2009
by Pie
(Saint Petersburg, FL, United States)

Seeker: An Alex Benedict Novel

Thousands of years after an entire colony mysteriously disappears, antiquities dealer Alex Benedict comes into possession of a cup that seems to be from the Seeker, one of the colony's ships. Alex and his assistant, Chase Kolpath, follow a deadly trail to the Seeker, strangely adrift in a system barren of habitable worlds. But their discovery raises more questions than it answers, drawing Alex and Chase into the very heart of danger.

Great mix of sci-fi, mystery and adventure.

These books remind me of a mix of Sherlock Holmes and Indiana Jones thrown into a sci-fi setting. (A mystery story set in the future, with an antiquit..Show More »ies dealer as the main protagonist.) In this universe the human race has been in space for about 20,000 years. In that time many ships, colonies and valuable items have gone missing. Alex Benedict, with the help of Chase Kolpath, specializes in finding missing and valuable items.

Seeker is the story of Margolia, a lost colony that disappeared long ago and has become a legend much like modern day Atlantis. One of the interesting concepts in the book, and McDevitt's writing, is the use of computer generated avatars of long dead people that are recreated through what is left behind and known of the person. In this case, Harry Williams the founder of the lost colony is used to help with the search. While he does not know where the colony is, or what happened to it, the avatar allows Benedict and Kolpath to get some unique perspectives on the colony and its foundation. In the end the avatar becomes a very sympathetic character.

This is a fun, quick book offers many twist and turns with a very satisfactory ending. Although it is the third book in Jack McDevitt's Alex Benedict series, these books can be read completely independent of each other.

The Devil's Eye: An Alex Benedict Novel

Interstellar antiquities dealer Alex Benedict receives a cryptic message asking for help from celebrated writer Vicki Greene - who has been mind-wiped. She has no memory of her past life, or of her plea for assistance. But she has transferred an enormous sum of money to Alex, also without explanation. The answers to this mystery lie on the most remote of human worlds, where Alex will uncover a secret connected to a decades-old political upheaval - a secret that somebody desperately wants hidden.

Moderate Departure from Previous Books

The Devil's Eye represents a modest departure from the preceding volumes. The earlier novels all involve the tracking down of a variety of clues, man..Show More »y being dead ends, that are quite engaging, and feel like you're peeling through the many layers of an onion to eventually arrive at the truth (the best of the group being the excellent "Seeker"). The Devil's Eye does not involve so many onion layers, and in fact is pretty well solved about half-way through. The remainder of the book focuses on interracial relations, and concludes with a rather obvious twist that was apparent well before the end. However, it is still a typical McDevitt novel - good dialog and a pleasant story line (and always involving a boobytrapped air vehicle of some sort!). I hope McDevitt continues to write these novels, but I prefer the earlier plotting technique.

Echo: An Alex Benedict Novel

Eccentric Sunset Tuttle spent his life searching in vain for forms of alien life. Thirty years after his death, a stone tablet inscribed with cryptic, indecipherable symbols is found in the possession of Tuttle's onetime lover, and antiquities dealer Alex Benedict is anxious to discover what secret the tablet holds. It could be proof that Tuttle had found what he was looking for.

Better than the last version

I'm one of the folks who bought the original version of this title with Paul Boehmer as the narrator. That version was horrible and I was never able ..Show More »to get past the first few chapters. Why use a guy when Chase Kolpath tells the story? Regardless, this version is much better though not up to the typical Alex Benedict standards. The narrator really struggles with the AIs and takes a while to get comfortable with the characters. She gets the hang of it by the last third of the book.

The story is good but not exceptional. The climax is pretty apparent a couple of hours before it actually happens. All in all, it is an okay way to spend a few days in the car.

Firebird: An Alex Benedict Novel

Forty-one years ago the renowned physicist Chris Robin vanished. Before his disappearance, his fringe-science theories about the existence of endless alternate universes had earned him both admirers and enemies. Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath discover that Robin had several interstellar yachts flown far outside the planetary system, where they too vanished. And following Robin's trail into the unknown puts Benedict and Kolpath in danger.

best Alex Benedict in a while

Yes. This has been my favorite Alex Benedict story since the earlier ones (Seeker, Polaris, etc). Devil's Eye and Echo were much less engaging, so it..Show More » is great to see McDevitt back to form in this story. Really engaging, lots of ingest, and the characters are well drawn.

Coming Home

Thousands of years ago, artifacts of the early space age were lost to rising oceans and widespread turmoil. Garnett Baylee devoted his life to finding them, only to give up hope. Then, in the wake of his death, one was found in his home, raising tantalizing questions. Had he succeeded after all? Why had he kept it a secret? And where is the rest of the Apollo cache? Antiquities dealer Alex Benedict and his pilot, Chase Kolpath, have gone to Earth to learn the truth.

Respectable, double action mystery sci-fi

Coming Home is the latest Jack McDevitt installment in the Alex Benedict series. The main character, Alex is a combination Indiana Jones / Sherlock Ho..Show More »lmes with the narrator, Chase, playing his Watson / gal Friday. This story involves two independent tales with Chase heavily involved in the rescue of a large cruise ship caught in space / time warp that Alex figured out in an earlier installment. Added to the mix is that Alex's uncle is on board. At the same time, Alex comes into possession of an "ancient" (25th century) artifact that suggests a connection to a missing cache of early space exploration items. The story jumps back and forth between these two separate plots.

This universe is set in the far future (beyond the 30th century) and a distant settled planet, although there are several Earth visits involved. One particularly unique feature of this series is the almost normal behavior of everyone in the story. People get hungry and go to restaurants; they go out to lunch with friends and discuss relationships; they go sightseeing on vacations, etc. There are no new sci-fi elements relative to earlier installments and the action scenes are muted and limited relative to earlier tales. McDevitt does provide a sense of the vastness of space which appears to slow down life in the future.

The narration is superb with an excellent range of voices with good pacing. This series and narrator have always been an enjoyable listen and this time out is no exception.